FOOTSCRAY’S failure to earn a bonus point against predicted strugglers Endeavour Hills could come back to haunt them later in the Victorian Rugby Union Premier 1 Dewar Shield season.
The Bulldogs showed a lack of respect for their opponents and the game plan that served them so well on opening day, and had to settle on a 28-15 win without the bells and whistles at Frog Hollow Reserve on Saturday.
Bulldogs coach Junior Naufahu was disappointed in the lack of structure to his side’s play and said that had to do with the mindset of his players entering a game they were hot favourites to win.
“A win’s a win, but it wasn’t impressive. ,
We went away from what we have been working on. The boys pretty much did their one-off running which is not what we’ve been working on. We’ve been working hard to be running in little pods, like pods of three. We didn’t pull that off.”
Flying winger Keisuke Yamada scored two tries for the Bulldogs.
Flanker Josh Keifa was the other try scorer – he chewed up plenty of metres going forward – and Patrick Schramm was the pick of the forwards, paving the way for the backs to do their damage.
Naufahu was seeing red after his side failed to get a fourth try.
“We’re trying to gain as much points as we can in the first half of the season,” he said.
“We missed out on a bonus point and that could cost us when things get a bit tighter in the second round of matches.”
The Bulldogs face one of the meanest opponents in the competition when they visit Melbourne on Saturday.
This will give the undefeated tricolours a true understanding of where they sit in the pecking order.
“They’re pretty much the hardest team,” Naufahu said.
“We’ve got to work hard this week to prepare for a massive game.”
VRU SCOREBOARD
Premier 1: Endeavour Hills 15 lt Footscray 28.
Premier 2: Endeavour Hills 26 d Footscray 12.
Premier 3: Endeavour Hills 22 d Footscray 19.
